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CORRUPTION NEWS

Dear Mr President

Dear Mr President I first wrote to you in 2012 asking you to take responsibility for your allegedly corrupt actions. Since then there’s been Guptagate, Public Protector spats, employment opportunities for your family, and Nkandlagate. You have operated with impunity, shifting the blame and avoiding responsibility. I know this letter will cause many to think Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Civil society asks for dissolution of arms commission

More than 30 local social justice organisations, including Corruption Watch, have issued a joint call for real arms deal accountability. Read their statement below: The 1999 arms deal represents up to R70-billion that should have been spent on housing, education, health and South Africa’s other pressing social needs. The arms deal corrupted our politics, weakened Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Local govt going back to basics

The second presidential local government summit (PLGS) promised action in transforming the performance of municipalities from mediocre, in many cases, to excellent, and ensuring that efficient municipalities remain that way. Ministers, premiers, mayors, executive mayors, municipal managers, speakers, chief whips, technical officers, traditional leaders, and other senior local government officials convened in Midrand on 18 Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Secrecy a threat to our democracy

The Right2Know (R2K) Campaign has today released its Secret State of the Nation Report 2014, which addresses certain trends, patterns and problems around secrecy in South Africa. The country is grappling with ever-greater threats to access to information, such as the Protection of State Information Bill (the infamous Secrecy Bill), which is not yet signed Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Zuma loses spy tapes appeal

In September 2013 we reported that President Jacob Zuma would turn to the Supreme Court to appeal a high court ruling that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) must hand over the so-called "spy tapes" for scrutiny. News has just broken that Zuma has lost his appeal – the Supreme Court has dismissed that application, with Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

President Zuma a key hurdle to fighting corruption

President Zuma’s response to Parliament regarding the R200-million upgrade is yet another demonstration of his disturbingly low commitment to fighting corruption in South Africa. “While we don't think that history is made by individuals, President Zuma’s personal conduct has clearly become a major obstacle to fighting corruption,” said David Lewis, executive director of Corruption Watch. Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Nkandla: Zuma’s report four months late

President Jacob Zuma has submitted his long-overdue response to the public protector’s Nkandla report. When Thuli Madonsela released her final report in March, she stipulated that Zuma must respond to the National Assembly within 14 days – he did not. Initially Zuma had said he would wait for the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to finalise Read more >

OPINIONS

Pursuit of corruption has its inspiring moments

By David Lewis We at Corruption Watch are often asked whether we don’t find our job depressing. The question assumes that spending each day dealing with the seamier side of human conduct and confronting an insoluble problem must be a depressing experience. It’s not at all depressing. On the contrary, it is quite uplifting. First, while we Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Arms deal: seven facts that aren’t going away

Source: Anine Kriegler, Right2Know A recurring line from those trying to dismiss allegations of corruption in the arms deal is: “Show us the evidence.” During his testimony at the Seriti Commission two weeks ago, former president Mbeki took an opportunity to lash out at critics, saying: “For all of these years we have been saying, let Read more >